Braced for shakeup, Mets beat Nationals 2-1 in 10

NEW YORK (AP) -- On the start of the final weekend of another
sorry season, the New York Mets celebrated a little even while
bracing for a management shakeup.

Josh Thole homered in the 10th inning and Pat Misch combined
with Hisanori Takahashi on a three-hitter Friday night to lead
the going-nowhere Mets over the even-worse Washington Nationals
2-1.

Mets manager Jerry Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya both
said they have not been notified they are losing their jobs
following another season filled with injuries rather than
accomplishments. Sports Illustrated, citing unidentified
sources, reported on its website earlier in the day that the
team will announce after the season that the pair won't return
in their roles.

"This is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately town, and lately it
hasn't been good," David Wright said. "There's going to be
fingers pointed and, obviously, that's where we're at now."

In addition to a fourth straight disappointing season on the
field, New York's attendance dropped sharply. The game drew an
announced crowd of 29,424 (it appeared to be less than half
that), leaving the Mets' home attendance at 2,498,503 in the
second season at Citi Field with two games remaining. Last year,
they drew 3,154,262 at home.

As for the game, Thole connected against Tyler Clippard (11-7),
turning on a 3-1 pitch at the letters and sending a one-out
drive into the right-field seats for New York's fourth hit and
first since the fourth inning.

Thole said it was his first game-ending homer - at any level.

"I didn't know what to do when I got to home plate," he said.
"I'll keep doing bad helmet tosses - give me another one."

With two hits, Thole raised his average to .277.

"With the weight of pitch-calling, trying to become a catcher at
the major league level, I think that has hindered him a little
bit offensively," Manuel said.

Mets rookie Ike Davis homered in the fourth off Jordan
Zimmermann as New York stopped a three-game losing streak.
Michael Morse's homer tied it in the seventh.

Takahashi (10-6) struck out four in two hitless innings, and
Misch struck out a career-high 10 in eight innings. Washington
hitters struck out 14 times.

"I know I can pitch. Obviously the record doesn't show it and
maybe the numbers aren't the greatest," said Misch, who is 0-4
with a 3.89 ERA this season.

Zimmermann allowed three hits in six innings, struck out three
and walked none. He's coming off an elbow operation similar to
the one Stephen Strasburg had Sept. 3.

"That's the bright spot of the night," Nationals manager Jim
Riggleman said. "It's really encouraging. It kind of gives us a
little hope for Strasburg."

Zimmermann returned Aug. 26 from surgery in August 2009 and was
1-2 with a 4.94 ERA in seven starts.

"I wanted to end the season on a good note, take it to spring
training," he said. "I accomplished enough for this year."

But the Mets' looming changes overshadowed the game.

"It's an unfortunate situation because obviously there's enough
blame for what's happened the last couple years to go around to
everybody, including the players," Wright said, "because at the
end of the day we're the ones who go out there on the field and
are not getting the job done."

NOTES: Citi Field was a tough park for power hitters in its
first season, when just 130 homers were hit, 25th among the 30
major league stadiums. In this year of the pitcher, the power
shortage has been even more pronounced. There have been 106 this
season at the pitcher-friendly ballpark - only Seattle's Safeco
Field, with 96 entering Friday, had fewer. ... Washington's Adam
Dunn struck out in the first and seventh innings, giving the
free-agent-to-be a career-high 197. ... Two errors by left
fielder Justin Maxwell - he bobbled Angel Pagan's first-inning
single, then dropped Mike Hessman's seventh-inning fly when
center fielder Nyjer Morgan ran into him - gave Washington a
major league-high 126. The Nationals led with 143 last year. "I
called but I didn't wave my arms," Morgan said. ... With 19
homers, Davis matched Ron Swoboda (1965) for the second-most by
a rookie in Mets history, trailing only Darryl Strawberry's 26
in 1983. ... Misch's previous strikeout high was eight for San
Francisco at San Diego on Aug. 4, 2007.